Erholz



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN J O S E'PII MEYERIIOLZ, OF MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA.

BUNG.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 572,435, dated December1, 1896.

Application filed May 29, 1896.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatLCHRISTIAN JOSEPH MEY- ERHOLZ, of Mountain View, in thecounty of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Bungs; and I hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification.

This invention is an improvement in bungs especially designed forbarrels and other wooden vessels containing wines to be transported; andthe object of the invention is to provide a bung which will be tight,not easily removable without the special key, and which will not projectfrom or in the vessel, so as to be liable to injury by exterior blows,and which, with the proper device, can be removed when desired withoutinjury, thus enabling the bung to be repeatedly used. The metallic partsof the bung moreover can be used indefinitely by simply renewing thewooden parts.

Another object of the device is to provide an extracting device for myimproved bungs.

My invention therefore consists in the novel construction of the bungand in the extractor therefor, hereinafter claimed.

In the annexed drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1is a transverse section of the bung secured within a stave of a vessel,also showing the extractor. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the bungdetached. Fig. 3 is a view of the extracting devices detached.

Referring to the drawings, the bung consists of a cup-shaped body A,preferably of wood or other suitable material which will expand whenmoistened. The body is preferably tapered externally, as usual in bungs.

To the bottom or inner end of the bung is secured by screws b a plate B,from which rises a central threaded stem 13, that is screwed through acentral opening a in the bung and projects upward in the hollow thereofalmost to the top edge of the bung, as shown.

When the bung is driven home into the bung-hole in stave S of thevessel,it fits tightly therein as an ordinary bung, and if the liquidshould attempt to escape the bung would Serial No. 593,619. (No modell)expand and thus maintain perfectly tight joints.

The bung-extractor comprises aloop G,having a shank provided with athreaded bore 0, which can be screwed onto the projecting end of stem B.Then the front end of a lever D, pivoted to a fulcrum-block E, adaptedto rest on the vessel, is inserted in the loop, and by depressing therear end of the lever the bung can be forcibly drawn out, as is evidentfrom the drawings.

I am aware that extracting bungs by means of interlocking lugs andsockets on the bung and extractor are old, but the lugs areobjectionable, as they enable the bung to be extracted by almost anyordinary drawing-tool, whereas my bung requires the properly-designedthreaded-socket extracting device to be used, and thus there is littledanger of the bungs being surreptitiously removed and replaced while thevessels are an transit. Furthermore, my bungs, being of wood or likematerial, fit so tightly that there is no danger of leakage, as thebungs become tighter the more they become wet. This practically is agreat advantage, as it does not necessitate the piling of vessels bungsuppermost, which is the case with many of the removable bun gs generallyused heretofore.

I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patentthereon, is

1. The combination with the bung having a threaded stem for theengagement of the extractor, with the loop having a threaded socket toengage the stem, and the lever provided with a fulcrum, whereby the loopand bung can be withdrawn, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. In a bung, the combination of the cup shaped wooden body A, and thebottom plate 13 having threaded stem B; with the loop 0,

as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN JOSEPH MEYERHOLZ. Witnesses GEORGE BRAY,

A. BLooK.

Having thus described my invention, what the lever D and fulcrum E, allsubstantially

